Escapement type switch



May 4, 1943.

G. DKIN ESCAPEHENT TYPE SWITCH Filed Feb, 5, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR GERALD DEAKl/V ATTORNEY .4 2 mf n m 8 e l m WM n 2 WMD/O m mm m E.. A. G

Y B H K wz mm NS.l mms, mwb DT@ .MF Smm h/AV mm f s E May 4, 1943. G. DEAKIN ESCAPEMENT TYPE SWITCH Filed Feb. 5, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 lNvENToR GERALD DEA/(IN ATTORNEY May 4, 1943- G. DEAKIN 2,318,204

ESCAPEMENT TYPE SWITCH Filed Feb. 5, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR GERALD DEA/mv BY l ATTORNEY Patented May 4, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT CFFI'CE ESCAPEMENT TYPE SWITCH Gerald Deakin, New York, N. Y., assignor to International Standard Electric Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application February 5, 1942, Serial No. 429,655

y 15 claims. (ci. 17a-21.51)

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in electrical switching devices and more particularly to switching devices of the escapement type.

The main feature of the present invention has to do with the mounting of contact wipers on the ratchet wheel of the escapement switch. The ratchet teeth being in a relatively large wheel, accurate positioning is possible in spite of the simplicity and inexpensiveness of the structure. The ratchet wheel is made of thin stock but so mounted and guided as to insure proper contact between terminals and the wipers, even where the latter are mounted on both faces of the ratchet wheel. g

In accordance with the present invention,l the escapement switch is or preferably a plurality of escapement switches are, coupled to a driving shaft by means of a clutch which permits the continued rotation of the shaft while the escapement mechanism holds the switch against move# ment.

A feature of the invention has to do with the construction of the clutch.

Another feature of the invention is concerned with the stopping and the restoration to normal of the escapement switch. The escapement wheel which carries the switching wipers is provided with 'a lug into the path of which a stop may be moved. 'I'he stop and the electro-magnetic operating means therefor are in accordance with a further feature of the present invention common to a plurality of escapement switches.

The escapement magnet and pawl are provided on a movable mounting so that they may be bodily displaced with respect to the escapement wheel with which they normally cooperate,

description of a preferred embodiment as applied K to the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical cross-section, partly in end elevation, of an escapement switch;v

escapement escapement 5, showing the switch in the stopping position.

Each escapement unit comprises a hardened' steel ratchet wheel I. One set of bridging brushes 2 is mounted on one side of the ratchet wheel by means of a rivet 3 or the like, but insulated from the wheel I by the insulation 4.

The brush has two relatively long wipers B and two relatively short wipers 6. A similar bridging brush I is mounted in alignment with brush 2 on the other side of the Wheel I and a corresponding pair of bridging brushes 8 and l are /mounted on the wheel I, 180 displaced with respect to brushes 2 and 1. As best shown in Fig. 2, the brushes 8 and 9 are reversed with respect to the brushes 2 and I so that the wipers of the two sets of brushes are mirror images of one another.

In the normal position, the long wipers, such as 5 of the two pairs of brushes 2, 1 and 8, 9 contact with relatively long terminals I2, I3 molded in a contact bank Il of insulating material, and

the short wipers, such as 6, of the brushes contact with short terminals such as Il, I8 molded into the contact bank I4. vThe contact bank has a semi-circular cut-out portion I9 within which 40 the ends of the terminals project into the path of the ends of the brushes.

'Ihe molding I4 has within its semi-circular cut-out portion a central groove 20 within which the ratchet teeth project, the wheel being held in position by ridges such as 2| forming a neck in the groove 20.

The disc I is driven by means of a shaft 22 through the agency of a friction clutch mounted on the shaft and longitudinally slidable thereon.

Thus the neck 2I will guide the rotation of the rachet wheel without danger of binding.

f The clutch is composed of an element 2l which is keyed in a slot 25 of the driving shaft 22 and is thus forced to rotate with the shaft although 4v55 it is free to slide along the shaft. The clutch A are saturated in oil and the clutch assembly is free to rotate with the shaft 22 while the ratchet wheel is held against displacement.

In the embodiment here disclosed, 13 terminals project from the molding I4 within the path of the contact brushes on the ratchet wheel. Some rows may consist of four terminals like I2, I3, I'I and I8, and others of only two long terminals.

lSome of these terminals may be inthe form of common feeder strips extending parallel to an adjacent row of terminals. Diametrically opposite contact brushes engage the terminals pro- Iiecting from the bank I4 only when one engages the ilrst set of terminals and the other the thirteenth set of terminals. In all other positions of the ratchet I, only one set of brushes makes contact at a time.

In Fig. 4, which is a rear view ofthe terminal bank I4, a contact bank is illustrated with-two rows of thirteen long terminals, like I8, I I and I2, I3. two feeder strips and two sets of short ter- L minals 1ike`I1, I8, which may serve as home terminals of a selector switch. Obviously, many other types of contact bank arrangements are possible.

The framework-for supporting an assembly for I8 units consists of one right end support 52, a middle support 53 and a left end support 54. 'I'he end supports are provided with mounting lugs y55. The three supports are held together by an upper bar 58 and a lower bar 51 secured thereto by means oi.' screws 58 which not only engage the supports but also screw-threaded inserts in the molded banks I4 of the escapement units. The

shaft 22 is journaled in the three supports 52,.

53, 54 by means of ball-shaped bearings 59, held in position by plates 80.

' The drawings illustrate an assembly consisting of ten units which are driven from a continuously rotating driving shaft 33 provided with a bevelled driving gear 34, with whicha driven gear 35 is normally caused to mesh by means of a spring (not shown). The gears may be moved apart under the control of a forked armature 38 pivoted at 31 and operable by means of a clutch 4magnet 38 mounted on one of the lugs 55. A

spring 39 normally urges the armature 38 away from collar 48 on hub 4| of the bevelled gear 35 and against a collar 42 thereon. The bevelled gear 35 with its collar is mounted on the end' of shaft 222 and thus when gears 35 and 34 are permitted to mesh, then all the clutches mounted on shaft 22 will berotated. None of the escapements will be moved, however, because normally the upper end of a pawl 43 engages a ratchet tooth of the associated ratchet wheel I and holds the wheel against displacement.

'I'he pawl 43 is fastened to armature 44 of escapement magnet 45 pivotally mounted at 46 on an extension of a return pole-piece 41 of magnet 45. This magnet assembly is mounted by means of screws 48 on a rocker frame 48. A coiled spring 58 fastened to the lower end of the pawl 43 and to the rocker frame 49 normally holds stop formed by an extension 5I oi' the return pole-piece 41.

When the magnet 45 is energized, it will attract its armature 44 against the tension of spring 58 and move the upper end ofpawl 43 out of the path of the ratchet tooth with which it is in engagement, thus allowing the wheel I to be rotated by shaft 22 through the agency oi' clutch 24, 23 until -it isstopped by the lower end ofthe pawl 43 engaging another ratchet tooth (Fig. 3a). 'I'he spacing of the upper and lower ends of the pawl 43 is such that the wheel I is permitted to advance a sunflcient distance for the brushes thereon to break contact with the terminalslon which they are resting and make contact with the next set o f terminals.

When the magnet 45 becomes deenergized, the

half a tooth and not suillcient for the brushes to v break contact with the terminals on which they are resting.

The rocker arm 49 is rotatably mounted on a shaft 8l which is secured to the three supports 52. 53, 54 by brackets 82. I'he rocker arm 49 is held in this normal position under the tension Ioi' a spiral spring 53 (Fig. 7) which is attached at one end to a projection 84 of the rocker arm and at the other end to the center support 53.

Means are provided for simultaneously returning all the escapement units to their normal position no matter in what olf-normal position they may be. 'I'his means consists of two release magnets 85, one at each end o1' the assembly (see Fig. 3) and aston-plate 88 which extends aci-ossv the assembly and rests in grooves 81 in the bases 52a, 54a of end supports 52 and 54. The plate 86 has ten slots 66a straddling the ten ratchet wheels.

the ratchet wheels into the position shown in Fig. 7. An arm 1I of the rocker ann 49 engages now a bell-crank I2 and causes its rotation around a pivot point 13 against the tension of a spring 15. 'I'he upper end of the bell-crank 12 is hinged at 13a to the plate 88 and swings it free the lugs 14,

tate a short distance until they are stopped by from the positionshown in Fig. 3 into the position shown in Fig. 7. In this position, the stop-plate 83 engages one of two lugs 'I4 provided on each wheel I, the lugs 14 and stop-plate 66 being at other times in the relative positions illustrated in Figs. 3 and 3a. When the plate 68 engages a lug 14, then the rotation of the ratchet wheel stops. There is suillcient play in the mechanism to insure that first the rocker arm is operated to disengage the ratchet wheel, and then the stopplate is moved into position, although the pawl should engage wheel I before the stop-plate releases it when magnets 55 are 'deenergized After suilicient 'time has elapsed to allow all of the ratchets to reach the locking position, the magnet 65 is deenergized and allows rocker arm 49 and the associated magnets 45 and pawls 44 to return into the position shown in Fig. 4. The stop-plate 68 will now be moved by spring 15 to whereupon the ratchets will ro the pawl in thelocking position against a backthe upper ends of the cooperating pawls 43.

'I'he entire assembly is covered by a dust-tight cover-l5, which is sealed in position as indicated at 16.

All the space at the rear of the assembly is filled in, terminal blocks 11 (Fig. 6) being fitted into the space at the ends and at the counter be tween the escapement units.

It will be noted that the toothed escapement disc of each escapement unit is many times larger than the usual ratchet-wheel of conven ',V

tional switches.

able thereon, a second clutch element keyed to said hub and longitudinally movable thereon, a spring pressing the second towards the first element, a washer loosely mounted on said hub between the two elements and on which said disc is seated, and felt washers between said elements and the disc.

5. In an escapement switch, a plurality of i ratchet wheels, wipers mounted on each ratchet- It is desirable that thisv discf` I shall at least be greater than half the inner large disc than a small one, iffthe sprinfginessA725 of the pawls is such as to bringthe assemblyto rest within the same angle in both'cases.

the ratchet-Wheel increases the` moment of in-l ertia of the rotary assembly. Accordingto'my; invention this moment of inertia, is made small'j... even with a large disc by makingv the-ldiscs'c.

thin that it is not even self-supporting', `ie. so thin that it would be subject to warpingor distortion under the reaction of the. brushes, etc."l

Then the arcuate guiding ridges 2| are provided to support the disc against such distortion. Still further reduction of the movement of inertia is attained by mounting the four brushes'with their sixteen' wipers directly on the ratchet disc, vand by arranging that the wiping circles shall be closely adjacent the faces of this disc, so that the brushesneed not have great length. By all these measures a very highspeed switchcapable of operating at the rate of 60 steps a second or more with long lifeand accurate registry of the wipers against the `contacts is made possible,

What is claimed is:

l. In an escapement switch, aratchet wheel, wipers projecting at least from one face of said wheel, a bank of contacts cooperating with said wipers, anda guide engaging the ratchet wheel near the periphery thereof.

2. In an escapement switch, a ratchet wheel, a shaft on which said wheel is centrally mounted, wipers projecting at least from one face of said wheel, a bank of contacts cooperating with said wipers, and a guide formed in said bank engaging the faces of the wheel near the periphery thereof.

3. In an escapement switch, a ratchet wheel, wipers projecting from both faces of the wheel, a contact bank having a groove within which the wheel is guided near its periphery, and contact springs projecting from the bank on the two sides of the groove into engagement with the wipers.

4. In a switch, a disc, wipers mounted on said disc, a terminal bank with which the wipers cooperate, a driving shaft for the discI a spring-v pressed friction clutch for coupling said disc to said shaft, comprising a flrst element having a hub keyed to said shaft and longitudinally movwheel. a terminal bank with which the wipers cooperate, a driving shaftfor the ratchet-wheels,

a spring-pressed friction clutch for each ratchetwheel to couple it to said shaft, each clutch comprising a first element having a hub keyed to vvsaid shaft and longitudinally movable thereon, a

the banks for a plurality of units are mounted Unfortunately, however, increasing the size or 'side by side with the ratchet-wheel of each unit 'in alignment with the groove in a bank and pro- .iecting therein and the wipers in the path of the ends of said terminals, a common driving shaft for all the ratchet-wheels, a clutch for each ratchet-wheel to couple it to said shaft, an es- 35amovement mounting for the escapement pawl or under other forces to which it is subjected:

capement pawl `for each escapement wheel, and

bodily to vmove it towards and away from the escapement wheels.

7. In an escapement assembly, a plurality of escapement units, each comprising a ratchet wheel, wipers mounted thereon, a terminal bank of insulating material having a groove, terminals projecting from said bank, a framework on which the banks for a plurality of units are mounted side by side with the ratchet-wheel of each unit in alignment with the groove in a bank and projecting therein and the wipers in the path of the ends of said terminals, a cornmon driving shaft for all the ratchet-wheels, a clutch for each ratchet-wheel to couple it to said shaft, an escapement magnet and pawl operated thereby for each escapement wheel, a movable mounting for the escapement magnet and pawl assemblies bodily to move them towards and away from the escapement wheels, a movable stopping means for all the escapement wheels, and common means for moving said mounting and stopping means.

8. In an escapement switch, a ratchet wheel, two sets of wipers mounted on the two sides of the ratchet-wheel displaced with respect to one another, a terminal bank of insulating material having a semi-circular cut-out portion with a groove in said cut-out portion having a neck. terminals projecting from said bank to form arcs within said cut-out portion on the two sides of said groove, means for mounting said ratchetwheel in alignment with the groove and projecting therein beyond the neck and the wipers in the path of the ends of said terminals, a driving shaft for the ratchet-wheel, a friction clutch for coupling said ratchet-wheel to said shaft, an escapement magnet and pawl for said escapement wheel, and a shaft on which the escapement magnet and pawl are mounted for bodily movement towards and away from the escapement wheel.

9. lin an escapement switch, a ratchet wheel,

two sets of wipers mounted on the two sides of the ratchet-wheel 180 displaced with respect to one another, a terminal bank of insulating material having a semi-circular cut-out portion with a groove in said cut-out mrtion having a neck, terminals projecting from said barili` to form arcs within said cut-out portion on the two sides of said groove, means for mounting said ratchet-wheel in alignment with the groove and projecting therein beyond the neck and the wipers in the path of the ends of said terminals. a driving shaft for the ratchet-wheel, a spring pressed friction clutch for coupling said ratchetwheel to said shaft, and escapement magnet and pawl for said escapement wheel, a pivoted mounting for the escapement magnet and pawl assembly, and a magnet for rocking said pivoted mounting to move said assembly towards and away from said ratchet wheel.

10. In an escapement assembly, a plurality of escapement units, each comprising a ratchet wheel, two sets of wipers mounted on the two sides of the ratchet-wheel, a terminal bank of insulating material having a semi-circular cut-out portion with a groove in said cut-out portion having a neck, terminals projecting through said bank to form arcs within said cut-out portion on the two sides of said groove, a framework on which the banks for a plurality of units are mounted side by side with the ratchet-wheel of each unit in alignment with the groove in a bank and projecting therein beyond the neck and the wipers in the path of the ends of said terminals, a common shaft for all the ratchet-wheels and projecting therethrough, a spring-pressed friction clutch for each ratchetwheel to couple it to said shaft, a mounting for said clutch on said shaft for insuring its rotation therewith and permitting its displacement longitudinally along the shaft, electromechanically controlled driving means for said shaft, an escapement magnet and a double-ended escapement pawl for each escapement wheel, a common shaft on which vall the escapement magnet and pawl assemblies are pivotally mounted for bodily movement towards and away from the associated escapement wheels, a movable common stop-plate for all the escapement wheels, stop-lugs projecting from the escapement wheels, and means for moving said stop-plate into and out of the path of said stop-lugs.

i1. In an escapement assembly, a plurality of escapement units, each comprising a ratchet wheel, two sets of wipers mounted on the two sides of the ratchet-wheel 180 displaced with respect to one another, a terminal bank of in'- sulating material having a semi-circular cut-out portion with a groove in said cut-out portion asiaaoe having a neck, terminals projecting through said bank to term arcs within said cut-out portion on the two sides of said groove, a framework on which the banks for a plurality of units are mounted side by side with the ratchet-wheel of each unit in alignment with the groove in a bank and projecting therein beyond the neck and the wipers in the path of the ends of said terminals, a common shaft for all the ratchetwheels and projecting therethrough, a springpressed friction clutch for each ratchet-wheel to couple it to said shaft, a mounting for said clutch on said shaft for insuring its rotation therewith and permitting its displacement longitudinally along the shaft, electrcmechanlcally controlled driving means for said shaft, an escapement magnet and a double-ended escapement pawl foi` each escapement wheel, a common shaft on which al1 the escapement magnet and pawl assemblies are pivotally mounted for bodily movement towards and away from the associated escapement wheels, a movable common stop-plate for all the escapement wheels, stop-lugs projecting from the escapement wheels, and an electromagnet for moving said stop-plate into and out of the path of said stop-lugs and for rocking the pivotal mounting of said assemblies.

12. An escapement switch comprising an arcuate bank of contacts, wipers for wiping over said contacts with a substantial pressure, a rotatable toothed disc upon which said wipers are mounted, said disc having a diameter at least substantially half as great as the internal diameter of said arcuate bank and being so thin as to be subject to distortion by the reaction of said pressure, means for urging said disc to rotate, escapement means cooperating with the teeth of said disc for controlling the rotation of said disc, and stationary support means bearing against said disc near the periphery thereof to resist such distortion.

13. An escapement switch according to claim 12 wherein said contacts are symmetrically disposed on both sides of said disc and whereinv said wipers are mounted symmetrically on both faces of said disc whereby the forces tending to distort said disc are minimized.

14. An escapement switch according to claim V12 wherein said means for urging said disc t0 rotate include a power driven constantly rotating shaft and means for transmitting a rotational couple from said shaft to said disc while permitting free movement of said disc longitudinally of said shaft.

15. An escapement switch according to claim l2 wherein said means for urging said disc to "to said disc while permitting free movement of said disc longitudinally of said shaft.. GERALD DEAKIN. 

